BULLYING PROBLEMS IN LEBANESE PRIVATE SCHOOLS

The purpose of the research was to study teachers and §administrators perceptions and attitudes towards the§bullying §problem, existing school policies and procedures, and§in-service §training needs in a cluster of Lebanese private schools.§§Survey methodology and the key informant approach§were used. §Data analysis involved the compilation of descriptive§statistics and §thematic analysis respectively. §§The data indicated that Lebanese teachers showed a§high level of §awareness of what behaviors constitute bullying. Most§recognize the §existence of a bullying problem in their school. Most§schools did not §have a specific bullying policy but did have policies§addressing §bullying-related issues. Regarding teachers and§administrators §views towards teachers responsibilities in dealing§with the issue, §nearly all agreed that teachers play a crucial role§in bullying §prevention and that they should intervene whenever§they see §bullying occurring. Teachers and administrators§generally believed §that they needed in-service training to deal with§bullying. A series §of recommendations is presented including a proposed§outline for a §professional development workshop on bullying. The purpose of the research was to study teachers and §administrators perceptions and attitudes towards the§bullying §problem, existing school policies and procedures, and§in-service §training needs in a cluster of Lebanese private schools.§Survey methodology and the key informant approach§were used. §Data analysis involved the compilation of descriptive§statistics and §thematic analysis respectively. §The data indicated that Lebanese teachers showed a§high level of §awareness of what behaviors constitute bullying. Most§recognize the §existence of a bullying problem in their school. Most§schools did not §have a specific bullying policy but did have policies§addressing §bullying-related issues. Regarding teachers and§administrators §views towards teachers responsibilities in dealing§with the issue, §nearly all agreed that teachers play a crucial role§in bullying §prevention and that they should intervene whenever§they see §bullying occurring. Teachers and administrators§generally believed §that they needed in-service training to deal with§bullying. A series §of recommendations is presented including a proposed§outline for a §professional development workshop on bullying.